


wriggle up on dry land

by Quintessence



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, POV Mito Freecs, Pre-Slash, Protective!Killua, Self-sacrificing!Killua, give killua hugs 2kforever, mito is a certified Good Mom, the killugon is implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-01 00:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20455997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quintessence/pseuds/Quintessence
Summary: "Mito goes very cold.  Killua thinks something awful is about to happen to Gon, and his first instinct isn’t to beg for Mito not to do it.  It’s to beg for her to do it to him instead."In which Mito is the mom Killua deserves.





	wriggle up on dry land

**Author's Note:**

> the second installment in a series called "spend an afternoon banging out an extremely self indulgent killua centric angsty h/c fic & slap it up on the ol' ao3 the very same day." i like it. feels fresh. feels organic.
> 
> title is from "hast thou considered the tetrapod" by the mountain goats bc i have a brand to preserve here.
> 
> all kidding aside, i hope you enjoy!!!!

There’s something not exactly right about Killua.

Mito doesn’t mean it in a bad way. He’s an easygoing houseguest, rarely making even the smallest request. He’s appreciative of everything Mito gives him, no matter how trivial. And he’s clearly absolutely taken with Gon. Mito can’t count the amount of times she’s caught Killua staring at him with a particular wistful smile in just the week he’s been here. So honestly, she doesn’t mean to criticize him. She’d be hard pressed to pick a better best friend for her son.

But the fact remains that certain things about him unsettle her. It’s a mother’s instinct, she supposes, for knowing when a child’s in trouble. There was the way he’d approached the house at first, hanging back as if sure he wasn’t wanted. Or the real shock when Mito had told him how much she’d heard about him. Killua and Gon had spent months training and eating and sleeping and playing and fighting together, and he’d been so surprised Gon had even mentioned him, as if it didn’t occur to him that he’d mattered in the slightest.

And perhaps she could’ve chalked that up to a mere nervousness at meeting a friend’s parent. Mito had been shy around adults at that age too. But the hints only increased in frequency and intensity. When she’d nag Gon good naturedly about leaving dishes in the sink or not making his bed Killua would stiffen. For just a moment, genuine terror would flash in his eyes. He’d inevitably relax again, but he seemed to expect something bad to come whenever Mito chided Gon about anything.

And the list continued. The way he’d never ask for anything that wasn’t explicitly offered. The scars that Gon explained away as “just assassin training stuff,” but looked far more deliberately inflicted to Mito’s practiced eye. How rarely Killua sleeps. Gon had outright praised that one.

“Killua can go days without sleep, Aunt Mito,” he’d said. “It’s really useful, don’t you think? I wish I had learned how to do that!”

“No,” Mito doesn’t say. “You most certainly do not wish you’d learned how to do that.”

So there are hints, slight suggestions of what Killua must have endured for the past twelve years, and she doesn’t like them one bit. The mother in her wants to gather him up in her arms and hold him tight and promise that she’ll protect him. The mother in her wants to dote and nurture and comfort, wants to surround Killua with so many soft things he hardly knows which way is up. 

But, when it comes down to it, Mito knows she can really only do so much. She can’t fix it, not really. She can’t undo Killua’s childhood. She can’t heal whatever trauma he’s endured. But she’ll do what she can. She’ll ensure that for a month, Killua is happy and warm and cared for. For a month, she’ll make it so he doesn’t have anything to fear. It’s not enough, not in the face of what she suspects Killua must have experienced, but if nothing else, she hopes that her home is a place Killua can feel safe. Just that would do the boy some good.

Trying not to fret over him too much, Mito collects the last piece of sun-dried laundry off the line in the backyard and loads it into the basket. Resting it on her hip, she heads toward the front door. Perhaps she should ask Killua what his favorite food is and make it for dinner one night. It would be a nice gesture, one that would hopefully let him know that she cares about him. Gon had mentioned he liked chocolate, hadn’t he? Maybe she could visit the candy shop in town and get him something from there. He might like that, she thinks, opening the front door. As she steps inside, she’s just about made up her mind to stop by the shop while she’s getting groceries on Friday, but her musings are abruptly cut short when sees the absolutely appalling state of the front hall.

How many times had she reprimanded Gon for tracking grime into the house? River water, pocketfuls of sand, dirt from the garden. If she’d told him once, she’d told him a thousand times. And here is her previously spotless front hall and kitchen covered in big, wet, muddy footprints. They’re so large and distinct that she can perfectly track Gon’s path through the house--he went in the front door, through the kitchen, stopped at the pantry for a snack, and then kicked his shoes off before entering the living room. She’d always let Gon roam the island freely. She’d never scolded him for spending sunrise until sunset playing in the forest. All she’s ever asked in return is for outside, and all its various substances, to _stay_ _outside._

“Gon Freecs!” Mito shouts up the stairs, positively fuming.

“Yeah?” Gon calls back, sounding wholly unconcerned.

“Downstairs! Right now!”

There’s the sound of very rapid footsteps--he must realize that she means business--before Gon and Killua descend the stairs and arrive in the living room. She can’t help but notice Killua has that cagey look and a certain tension around his shoulders, but it isn’t her main concern right now. Besides, it’s not him she’s angry with. There is, after all, only one set of footprints.

“Care to explain this to me?” Mito demands, gesturing to the mess.

Gon’s eyes go wide as he surveys the kitchen.

“Oops?” he tries, smiling sheepishly

“You are absolutely _ not _getting out of this by acting cute, so don’t even try.”

Gon sighs.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Mito. I guess I just didn’t notice how dirty my shoes had gotten.”

“Gon, honestly, how on earth could you possibly not notice this?”

“I don’t know,” he says. “I was just having fun with Killua and wasn’t paying attention.”

At that, Killua stiffens slightly. Mito scrubs a hand over her face and sighs.

“Gon, I really don’t ask for much. Not tracking mud into my freshly cleaned house is not a difficult task. Just take off your shoes right by the door like I’ve always told you to.”

Gon at least has the decency to look somewhat guilty.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I appreciate that. But we’re not done just yet,” Mito says. “Wait here.”

Mito heads to the kitchen closet, careful of the mud, grabs out the large wooden mop and bucket, and returns to the living room.

“Yeah, I guess that’s fair,” Gon admits. 

Mito is just about to hand him the mop and tell him every inch of the floor had better be spotless by the time he’s done, when Killua, in one swift motion, steps in front of Gon.

“It was my fault,” he says, sounding strangely panicked. “I should be getting in trouble, not Gon.”

He’s a sweet kid, Mito thinks, trying to take the blame for his friend’s mistake.

“Killua, we both know that’s not true. Gon’s shoes are covered in mud and yours are clean.”

Gon, looking somewhat confused, attempts to step forward, but Killua shoves out an arm and keeps him back.

“But it’s like he said. He wasn’t paying attention because of me. I… I even told him not to worry about the mess. Yeah, he wanted to clean it up and I told him he didn’t have to. So it’s my fault. I should get in trouble.”

Mito sighs.

“Killua, it’s very nice of you to try to take responsibility, but this is Gon’s mistake, not yours. So the consequences are his.”

Killua shakes his head almost violently.

“No, please. Please, not Gon. It was my fault. So it should be me. Please. _ Please. _”

It strikes Mito as a rather disproportionate reaction to be asked to mop the floor. Until she realizes it.

_ He doesn’t think Gon’s being asked to mop the kitchen floor. _

It all comes together quite suddenly. How Killua’s shaking. How he hasn’t taken his eyes off the mop in Mito’s hand. How he physically put himself between her and Gon. How he’s begging, outright begging, for it to be him instead. He doesn’t see a mop and a bucket. He just sees a large, blunt instrument in Mito’s hand and anger directed at his friend.

Mito goes very cold. Killua thinks something awful is about to happen to Gon, and his first instinct isn’t to beg for Mito not to do it. It’s to beg for her to do it to him instead.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she says softly. “Sweetie, it’s not what you think.”

Keeping her movements slow and predictable, she leans the mop against the wall and sets down the bucket and approaches Killua. He doesn’t flinch or jump. He merely closes his eyes and waits. And Mito’s heart breaks at that, at that utter resignation to the inevitably of violence.

“Killua, I’m not going to hurt you. Or Gon. No one’s getting hurt. Okay? So you can open your eyes. It’s alright.”

Slowly, Killua opens his eyes and looks up at Mito warily. He’s shaking quite visibly, but he refuses to move from his position between Mito and Gon.

“I was just going to have him clean up the mess, alright? That’s all it was. Nothing bad was going to happen. I’d never hurt Gon. And I’d never hurt you, either. Never, okay?”

Killua doesn’t appear fully convinced.

“You’re very brave,” she continues. “And a truly exceptional friend. You didn’t care what happened to you as long as Gon was okay, right?”

At that, Killua’s eyes begin to fill with tears.

“Gon should never…” he begins, and then stops. “Gon never deserves… I’d sooner… I..”

He stops to collect himself.

“I just have to protect him,” he says, half ferocity and half desperation. “Always. I’ll always protect him.”

“I know, honey. He’s very lucky to have you. And I’m very lucky to have you watching out for him, too.”

Killua wipes roughly at his eyes.

“Could you come here? Would that be okay?”

Killua hesitates a moment, and it’s clear how ingrained it is in him, the expectation of violence. He’s still not sure he’s really safe. But he does come to her. He moves slowly and hesitantly, and still quite clearly keeps himself in front of Gon, but he comes. It’s something, at least. Eventually, he comes to her.

And as soon as he’s near, Mito kneels down and pulls him into her arms. He’s stiff at first, as if unsure what exactly is happening, but Mito keeps holding him. She rubs soothing circles on his back and presses a kiss to his hair. And he eventually relaxes. And then slowly, so slowly, he wraps his arms around her too, returning the embrace.

And as soon as he does, he starts crying in earnest. She doesn’t hear it, but she feels it, the unmistakable shaking of his small frame. He must’ve learned how to cry his heart out without making a sound, she thinks, and pulls him tighter.

“You’re so good, Killua,” she murmurs. “You’re so kind and you’re so brave. I imagine you must’ve been very brave for a very long time. But it’s okay now. You don’t have to be brave anymore. You’re safe. I promise you that. As long as I’m here, you’re safe.”

It doesn’t matter that Killua is one of the most skilled assassins in the world and that Mito has never so much as thrown a punch. Right now, he isn’t a fighter. He isn’t powerful or deadly. He’s merely a child who deserves protection. He’s just a boy who needs to be held as he cries.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you sm for reading!!!! treasuring and replying to all comments!!!!! also i'm officially a top killugon account on [tumblr](https://storybookprincess.tumblr.com/) if you're in need of some more Good Boy Content.


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